On September 14, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine joined with the Ohio Children’s Hospitals Association in a direct appeal to school superintendents to require masks for staff and students during the current surge of the coronavirus.
The plea was made during a virtual meeting with superintendents and the clinical leadership from six Ohio children’s hospitals including Dayton Children’s Hospital, ProMedica Russell J. Ebeid Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Akron Children’s Hospital, and University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. The recording of the zoom call is available on the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association’s website.
“The data are now clear that there is a higher level of COVID-19 in school districts where masks are not required,” said Gov. DeWine. “If we want our schools to stay open, the best way to do that is for those 12 and over to get vaccinated. But because those under 12 are still too young to be vaccinated, we need students who come in to school to wear a mask until we get through this.”
- Since August 15, there have been 29,823 Ohio school-aged kids ages 5 to 17 with confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19.
- Cases among this age group increased 198% from the week of August 15th as compared to the week ending September 4th.
- As reported recently by the American Academy of Pediatrics, COVID-19 cases among children have increased 240% nationally since early July when the Delta variant began to surge. During that same period in Ohio, there has been a 2,000% increase in cases among Ohio children.
- COVID-19 cases are increasing at nearly twice the rate among school-aged kids as compared to the rest of the population. This past week, Ohio saw a 44% increase among school-aged children and only a 17% increase among the rest of the population.
- Over the two-week period ending September 4th, there was an average of 909 cases per 100,000 school-aged Ohio kids versus 561 cases per 100,000 people comprising the rest of the population.
- The 16 days with the highest number of cases per day throughout the entire pandemic for kids aged 5 to 17 in Ohio have all been in the last 19 days. This includes every day except the three days of the Labor Day weekend.
- In Ohio school districts where masks are optional, among school-aged kids, there are both higher case rates per 100,000 at 945.7 and a greater week-over-week increase in cases. School districts where masks are optional have seen a 54% week-over-week increase compared to a 34% increase in school districts where masks are either required for all or required for some (usually K-8th grade).